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Reviews

Rated by Michael Hill on 12/11/15I purchased a beautiful ring for my wife from Columbian Emerald International. After returning home from the Caribbean the stones started falling out immediately. I have sent many emails and spent countless hours on the phone trying to have some stand behind thier product. The amount of mental energy I have wasted dealing with this ring and the saddness my wife feels over the purchase runs contrary to the purpose of buying it in the first place.

Rated by A J on 09/27/14This company is god awful. I bought a citizens watch from them to celebrate my 1 year anniversary. After having the watch for 1 month the pin fell out of one of the links. i brought it back in to them. They said they could not find a link. the manager said she would call me on the Saturday 4 days after i bought it in, She Did Not. Then about two weeks after she calls and said they still cant find a pin and that they cant give me a store credit or replace my product because apparently the face of the watch is too "scratched up". I consider this very poor customer service on their part and i would not ever buy from them again,

Rated by Dee Edwards on 03/27/14I viewed a 1/2 ct. diamond solitaire 14ct gold ring is 50% sale = £935 - a bargain I thought! I fell in love with this ring on my visit to Grenada
and I should have been purchasing the ring this week -but after reading your reviews on CE Intl. and its customer care... Well, lets say that I will not be pursuing the purchase. A real disappointment but thank you all for posting your positive and negative experiences.

Rated by Nata on 01/17/14Unfortunately like many others here - ripped off - returned from Grand Bahama where we bought an emerald ring for 3400 USD at Port Lucayan - just got back from an independent appraiser here in Canada - actual suggested retail value 2100 CAD - rip off = approx. 1300 USD - prices and bogus appraisals at CEI are grossly overstated and actual value IMO if you want a rule of thumb to go by is about 1/2 what their appraisal says - sad but true - they are scammers

Rated by maria on 06/26/12Darn after reading all the comments I am changing my mind from purchasing an item. Really disappointed in CI

Rated by sopusa@yahoo.com on 11/30/11After reading the reviews I WILL NOT PURCHASE anything from Columbian Emeralds on my upcoming NCL cruise.

Rated by kcXX on 07/21/11Dont do it -- reconsider. This company has a NO return policy. They do not stand behind their product or sales. Reconsider dealing with companies where they want you to be happy with your purchase.

Rated by Claudia Bergmann on 05/17/11Total rip off! I bought a pair of earrings in St. Lucia and they are worth just half the price I payed for after I already negotiated a lot.

Rated by Lori Fischer on 04/25/11I was very disappointed with my purchase in Atlantis, Bahamas. The diamonds have started falling out of my ring one by one starting two days after purchase. It was appraised for half of the value that I paid for it.
Disgusting!

Rated by charlie on 04/22/11This store had amazing custom service and they helped me find a gorgeous tanzanite two tone diamond ring that my friends still awe about. I was able to get a nice discount on the item as well.

Rated by ED Kelly on 12/13/10I don'T think i will place an order now that i have read these reviews. An old time cust.of C.E.

Rated by Christa Xavier on 11/30/10I would not advise anyone to purchase from Columbia Emeralds. I purchased a diamond and emerald ring on sale on the NCL Pearl, however the sales rep noticed that the emerald was cracked and said nothing to me. I was debating between two rings one more expensive than the other but appeared to be the same. The sales rep could not understand why the ring I finally choose was reduced to such a great extent, he examined the ring and then handed it back to me without comment. If I had known about the flaws then I would have purchased the more expensive of the two rings. Now after much research I now know that Emeralds can crack and once they crack their value drops. So I now have a ring with 2 out of 3 cracked emeralds not worth the money spent on it.

Rated by maria richardson on 06/22/10It would be nice if this Company would learn to spell Colombian, because the way its spelled shows this emeralds are from Columbia (USA?)

Rated by Eric Trueman on 05/24/10It is not just Colombian International who you should not trust. We bought a diamond ring from Jewels in Paradise in St Maarten. Upon returning to the UK the ring was appraised by a professional Valuer who confirmed that the main stone was of much poorer quality than stated by Jewls in Paradise. On contacting them they used every excuse to avoid making any recompense. Beware - we were conned!! Do not trust them.

Rated by VALERIE BOLGER on 03/19/10MY LATE HUSBAND BOUGHT ME A DIAMOND RING FROM THE STORE IN BARBADOS, THE RING IS STUNNING BUT i HAVE HAD TO REPLACE TWO OF THE DIAMONDS AS THEY CAME OUT OF THE RING..

Rated by Mary Meeks on 03/02/10Hello - I bought a saphire and diamond ring from Columbian Emeralds International on the Norwegian Dawn over Christmas 2009. There were two prices on the ticket the higher ticket on the ring said the price was $1899 but reduced in the the sale
for $899 (lower price on ticket) - I was thrilled to have a ring that was worth ¬£1100. On my return to the UK I had it appraised for insurance. I was very upset as it was appraised at ¬£600 only, not ¬£1100 as indicated to me from a member of their staff. Having returned to the UK I sent an email to Columbian Emeralds International. explaining what happened. They have informed me that appraisals are done on the clarity etc of the stones. They offered a refund in the form of an exchange or a merchandise certificate. I informed them that to accept the merchandise certificate would mean I would be buying another product that would probably not be the correct value. What they do not seem to understand is to advertise a ring with two prices a higher amount, that you are told is the true value and a lower price that you pay, when in actual fact it is only worth the lower price and is no way valued the higher amount. I certainly won't be buying from them again. Mary Meeks

Rated by Tamara on 10/29/08I recently bought several rings diamond and emeralds from the store on Grand Cayman Island. The service was wonderful and the product quality great.

Rated by chris on 10/03/08Columbian Emeralds International is a scam. A fraud. A pack of thieves and liars.
We purchased a diamond engagement ring on a cruise ship and it was of horrible quality and craftsmanship. The customer service, through Sarah Restrepo, is a nightmare and clearly an out and out fraud.
Stay away.

Rated by Maggie Muenstermann on 05/07/08I just love the store but mostly the people. Laura was wonderful along with all the other girls that were there!! I got a lovely necklace with starfish.

Rated by Sian Bland on 06/06/07I love this shop. On my honeymoon in St Lucia, my Husband bought me a ring from the store at a Sandles resort. The staff were so helpfull and accomodating and the ring i had i always wear with pride.Thank you to Columbian Emeralds for this special memory of my honeymoon.

Rated by M McMillin on 02/26/07Beware of Columbian Emeralds International. A tanzanite ring purchased at Port Lucaya on Grand Bahama appraised at significantly less ($1300) than the purchase price. An email acknowledgement from Sarah Restrepo conceded that the ring was flawed. Consistent with other reports, their responses were delayed for various reasons. Since the integrity of the company is suspect, they knowingly only offer store credit. Yet, why would anyone knowingly elect to have ANOTHER flawed jewel from this company? It is expected that any subsequent jewelry would be of less quality, and at additional expense to me for the future appraisals. Buyer beware for tanzanite; CEI should stick to emeralds. The issue has not been resolved to our satisfaction.

Rated by Angela Colley on 11/28/06In March 2005 at the Columbian Emeralds International Shop at the VC Bird International Airport I purchased a gold tone US$175 Citizen Quartz watch, at the time I was wearing a Fendi watch. I took off my Fendi to have the Citizen adjusted for my wrist. I decided to wear the Citizen and asked the Sales person Carol if she would put my Fendi watch in the Citizen box please.
Foolishly trusting I did not open the box handed to me by the the CI Salesperson and when I arrived in Trinidad there was no Fendi in the box. I phoned Columbian Emerald in Antigua and told them that my watch was not in the box. I faxed over a picture of the Fendi and waited on their response. I was told that my Fendi was not in their store and that the Salesperson Carol handed me a jewelry bag which I placed in my handbag and the the empty box in a bag. I was on my way back to Trinidad from a work conference in Antigua, I had monies that belonged to my office, my money, my passport, jewellery purchased at CI in St. Johns and never was I given my Fendi Classico mother of pearl face with diamonds watch in a jewellery bag. The Fendi Classico mother of pearl face with diamonds was given to me as a birthday present by my boyfriend the year before September 2004, last than a year old. I was given a story by the island Manager Ms. Sue Ross who claimed she wanted to help me. I told her I want my watch replaced. This was her response.

Ms. Angela Colley,
> I am so sorry but this is not an option. As far as we are concerned the
> watch was given back to you - not in the Citizen box as you assumed but in
a
> velvet jewelery pouch. You yourself remember it being put into this pouch
> which then would not have been able to fit into the Citizen box. If the
> pouch was left behind inadvertently we would have found it and been able
to
> return it to you.
>
> Sincerely,
> Sue Ross
> Island Manager
> Columbian Emeralds International

I am now 33 years old and not paranoid, deranged and at all not in complete control of my senses. I cannot understand the insistence that the watch was given back to me. I told her that she is not going to phone me to tell me at anytime that they had a problem of a similar nature with their employees. The customer service I received was extremely poor, that they obviously do not believe in retaining customers.

I explained that I was a loyal CI customer I had bought jewellery in Barbados, Trinidad, in St. Johns, Antigua and had no problems until then.

Please be weary of the con artists of Columbian Emeralds International and know that your business is not valued.

Rated by Denise Lancaster on 05/10/06Columbian Emerald's staff lied to my fiance and I about the Diamond Engagement Ring we purchased. They sold us a cracked diamond that appraised for much less than their appraisal. The store was unwilling to resolve the issue. However, they felt the need to protect themselves after assuring us that this was not the first time they had the problem with their St. Thomas store--they protected themselves by severing the tie with the St. Thomas store, but left us with a cracked diamond and no other recourse. We contacted the store and customer services and received a run around on many occassions. We were asked to return the cracked diamond to Customer Services for resolution and at this point, we were ripped off. Our cracked diamond was switched to a much smaller diamond that was also cracked right in the middle and of a lesser color and clarity.

The persons in Customer Service's that we worked were Angela Jaramillo and Sarah Restrepo. Angela and Sarah played a game and we later discovered that it was to buy time until it was too late for their insurance company to get involved. We purchased the ring from Suresh Sujanani. We also contacted Mr. Steven Crane the owner and he never returned our calls or email. They have a location in New York that assisted them in ripping us off. This event occurred more than two years ago, and has never been resolved to our satisfaction. We are also aware that another customer was ripped off on a purchase of diamond earrings that were quite costly. We are posting this to inform travelers and buyers to beware of Columbian Emeralds, Jewels, CEI, and DutyFree.com's ripoff practices. You are referred to these stores by Norwegian, Carnival, Holland America Cruise Lines, etc. These stores are located throughout the Caribbean and online.

Denise
Upper Marlboro, Maryland
U.S.A.

Rated by Dominique Floyd on 04/10/06I absolutely love this store! My parents went on a cruise, and I was having a bad time all alone back at home. Surprise! when they got back my father gave me a green box. When I opened it there was a gold chain with a pendant and inside there was a little emerald floating around! I was so happy. Columbian Emeralds International is the best store with the best jewelry

Rated by Nikki Stath on 01/27/05My fiancee proposed to me after being in your columbian emeralds intl. jewelry store and Clinton(I am certain that was his name)originally helped us and he was VERY helpful!! My fiancee went back in not to my knowledge and bought an engagement ring(Clinton was on lunch) and proposed to me! I was very impressed with the service that he provided originally going in to find a nice emerald and wound up with a beautiful diamond!!